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Saturday, June 26, 2010

The fall of the Wall?

After initial reports suggested Walter SAMUEL was ready to make a comeback and play for Argentina against Mexico, Diego MARADONA has hinted The Wall may not be 100% fit. MARADONA said: "If he is not 100% he knows he won't be making his team-mates any favours. Mexicans will kick the ball forward and chase it, and if SAMUEL is not completely fit..."

"I will pick those players who are at their best form to honour our shirt like it should be honoured. That's what fans of Argentina deserve".

Therefore, Nicolás BURDISSO will most likely partner Martín DEMICHELIS in the middle of our back line of four. Nicolás OTAMENDI and Gabriel HEINZE will play on the flanks.

43 comments:

-hamstring is a dodgy one if theres any dout whats so ever leave him out it only means his fresh for later games big games OR is there something else going on samuel wasnt in diegos plans at last minute his in now his out again could he be out of favor maybe diego dont like him -

How does the ref, or the linesman, miss that handball by the Korean defender ? Should have been a red card and a penalty. Amazing. I still maintain that the referring week in and week out is better in Argentina than in the WC. A disgrace.

Oh no! I though for the game against Greece that Maradona said that if that was a final Samuel would play, but since it's not they weren't going to risk him... Well this is kind of like the final!!!! He's the only on in the defense I actually trust, and against Mexico - a team that actually goes forward, this is bad news. Shoooot

I think the team can handle the absence of Samuel. The world cup is usually won by teams that improve as they go along, and peaking at the final. Rarely do teams that start out brilliant win it. Argentina seems to be getting better game by game... I say we'd be strong against Mexico even with the team we used against Greece. Korea really pushed Uruguay today, and this is the Uruguay that outplayed Mexico by quite a bit. IMHO, we are heaps stronger than Uruguay. So why the doom prediction???

yes it is confirmed SAMUEL is ruled out of Mexico clash! bt worry nt guys,If Otamendi will take RB am nt worried,Micho will be under pressure bt everythng on the back will be controled shd BURDISO be there.

I have such a bad feeling for Otamendi. You could say I'm Clemente Supporter now, but... why isn't he there. Will the Mexicans play with tall forwards for us to need a tall defender? I don't think so. They have speed, we give them Clemente's speed. I see Otamendi more fit for the hypothetical Germany-Argentina clash.

Salvio,u r right clemente very speedy bt interms of defencing along our danger zone cant ompare to Heinze,Heinze is in great form nt cz i favour his goal,bt no 1 can prove me a blunder he created so far

I know Diego always become main attraction when hold press conference. His words is media headline. But, in his recent statement he said media had to apologize for criticizing NT. He doesn't have to say it over and over. Look, win 3 match is good result. But it proved nothing. We are now in knock out stage. Such that arrogance could be dangerous. Better he keep these words after reach final. We even don't achieve anything yet, rite? Prove it on the pitch, and you got our trust.

samuel out can be overcome. heinze versus dos santos can be tricky. di maria will need to get back to help, which will take him out of the offense. heinze in the middle with burdisso on the wing may work out much better to neutralize dos santos' speed. vamos argentina! si van a buscar el partido ganan facilmente....

It comes down to which Mexico team shows up ? The dangerous one that always plays up to their competition or the one that always seems to be lacking an offensive spark. I certainly hope that Mexico makes mistakes early and allows ARG to build an early lead. If it is a tie going in to the final minutes, I'm afraid Diego will wait too long to bench Veron.

We are two players away from that. My guess is we win this game 3-1. The one goal we concede is a Demichelis screw up and Pastore comes in at 2-1 to change the pace and Diego goes with Pastore for the final 3 games and Demichelis takes the bench for when Samuel comes back next week. I think it will be 1-0, then 2-0 then 2-1 then 3-1.

Dan- That teams looks good but I think Masch would be horribly over worked. Di Maria and Pastore are much more offensive minded players, and almost all the responsibility to win the ball back would fall to masch. I think tevez off in place of pastore and bring on maxi would be a better option

Hi Principee,You are spot on when u said that they can't score aginst us.I h've seen our match against Germany friendly from what I saw,and impressed me was our defense.Also from the last 5 matches,we conceeded only one goal that was also due to Micho's mistake.Hope today Messi really shines and let pray that he scores a hatrick!!!

Man when I read you guys; it makes me feel a bit stronger. Pheww. If we play to our ability, Mexico should not be hard to beat but still when I see so many surprises and knowing how Mexico can be, I can't hide my nerves. Like I played a Fifa 10' game taking Argentina and Mexico yesterday and all the times, it ain't a difficulty to win mexico but yesterday, I just lose both and man, I couldn't sleep for a while. Pheww!!!!Hope for the best today!!!

Right midfield-Maxi. Veron and Jonas start out on the bench. Samuel isn't fit and won't play.

I disagree with many that this will be a walk in the park. I don't think there are any easy matches at this point. Mexico will be fired up as many of their supporters in Mexico aren't giving them much chance either. Aguirre was irritable in his press conference about all the "no shot" opinions in Mexico. Maradona hasn't been so complementary of Mexico's chances either.

Looks like a tailor made upset if Argentina pays attention to all the negative press about Mexico. I prefer the Argentina of a month or two back that was thought to be disorganized and unlikely to have much success.

johnny, still I've been reading in some newspapers here (la nacion, etc) some skepticism, saying exacatly that. That it's NOT going to be a walk in the park, that it's going to be a pretty balanced game, and really it's the first real test that our defense - which has shown many problems with the limited participation they had in the back so far - will have. So I don't think everyone is totally confident, I'm surprised some people are saying it's going to be a "walk in the park", don't they remember last world cup?? or most imortantly don't they see our weaknesses? It could go both ways I think, Mexico is a good team.

Johnny,We will know in the first 10 minutes of the match. If the referree calls the fouls properly, and has control of the match, then we should win although I think it will be competitive. Mexico runs alot, and they are young. Our class should show though. Look for Dos Santos to make a few runs. My thoughts are we will score first. The problem is I am hoping we do not go in a defensive shell. This seldom works at this level of play. Mexico's tactics will be hard fouls, and challenging for the ball at all times. If we are patient, we will win. Honestly, at this level of play the game is more mental than physical as a superior team can suffer if their confidence is not there. I as alway worry more about the latin teams than the european teams as I think euro teams including Spain are not great but good. Chile owned Spain for the first 25 minutes or so until the goalie made arguably one of the dumbest plays I have seen this world cup or any going back to 1978.

Dan said,Also, look for Pastore to come in if things are not fluid in the midfield. I know Maxi always scores for us on some plays. I do not know however what we get from him out of midfield. My biggest complaint is he is not a true offensive player, not a true defensive player, and if DiMaria disappears you will see others having to do the work. DiMaria is due for a big game but I have not seen anything until Pastore came in the other day against Greece where after 5 minutes the entire game changed. Again, if we are looking to win loose balls Jonas is the better choice. If we are looking to be offensive, Pastore is the better choice. I pray Demichelis doesn't screw up as he is a terrible link on our defense. Against fast teams he is bad. Against fast skilled teams he will get us knocked out, ie, Brazil, Spain.

Lest I be misunderstood, I would bet my money on Argentina today. Particularly if they combine the intensity they have shown so far with the relaxed "looseness" installed by Maradona. I just hope they aren't too overconfident after reading their press clippings.

And I agree, the defense has not yet been sorely tested and remains the big weakness. If Argentina can "finish" up front as they are capable, then I would see an Argentina victory.

More incredibly poor officiating ! How far into the goal does the ball have to be before someone can see it ? Absolutely incredibe. Again I say, the officiating in Argentina is light years better than what we have seen in the WC. Astonishing ineptitude.

England has surprised me a lot. they were absolute rubish. and forget about the back four, their midfield trio of Bary, Lambard, and Gerard are just too slow.

Germnay are impressive, especially their counter attack, but England turned out to be no real measure.

today we face our real tough oponent, but by no means a world class side. if we do not win then we do not deserve to go through. if we do win however, then Germany will be an even match. lets see what will happen tonight...

anonymous,You are ignorant, and uninformed. In March we pounded Germany in Germany 1-0. Germany has already lost a game, and no team in world cup history that has lost a game has gone to win the world cup.To call your comments ignorant is an insult to ignorant people. England is old, slow, and do not possess much striking power other than Rooney. Watch the games, don't ass talk, and go huddle up with LaVolpe.

Mohd,Germany is not an even match with us...The game changed after the referee screwed up the call. England were forced to attack and leave their back unprotected. Rooney was a non factor again; a good striker that in my opinion is no better than Aguero, and a product of English media. Their defense was a joke, and look at the facts as to how England played in the group. They barely got by. Mexico will be a tough challenge, as they are physical. Let me ask you this, who is it that really scares you on Germany other than Klose...no one.